We departed Istanbul on a night bus heading towards Cappadocia (land of fairy chimneys and phallic structures). After months of bussing around SE Asia in dilapidated, sometimes filthy and occasionally stalling former Chinese tourist buses, we were at ease once we stepped on our overnight bus from Istanbul. An attendant with tea service, free snacks, occasional WIFI and Turkish TV … what’s not to love? We arrived in Goreme, a once sleepy farming town that has recently turned into an outdoor adventure mecca at the base of Goreme National Park. Arguably, the landscape in Goreme and surrounding Cappadocia is unlike anywhere else in the world. After a short stroll, you quickly realize why George Lucas chose Cappadocia for  filming several scenes from the original Star Wars. It does have that eerie feeling of what another planet might look like. The main draw of the area are the stunning fairy chimneys built into the mountainside that once housed villages, now acting as “cave” hotels. We spent half a day trekking through the national park, mesmerized by the sights and eventually getting lost along the way.  Our final goal for the hike was to get to the Rose and Red Valley; however, there weren’t any official signs for us to follow; you just had to look for spray painted red arrows on the side of the rocks.  Just as we were mentioning how well marked the trail was and how surprised we were that we weren’t t lost yet, we were lost and about 8 km away from our town.  Due to the erosion of the area many of the spray painted signs apparently disappeared over the years or that’s are excuse anyway.

While viewing the landscape from the ground is remarkable, it’s actually better from above. Cappadocia is a hot air ballooning magnet and with the help of Cappadocia Voyager Balloons, we took a stimulating 90 minute ride through the region. We made it to the launch site around 7AM and were blown away by the sheer size of the balloons up close. There were scores of balloons laying about in varying stages of preparation. With a couple industrial fans and some nitrous fueled flames, the balloons quickly lifted off and within a few seconds were several hundred feet off the ground.  Due to the wind patterns in Cappadocia, the balloon companies are able to fly over 330 days a year, and usually have about 100 balloons in the air on any given day.  We climbed in a basket of eight passengers and while it was quite cold outside, the heat from the flames warmed us up. We gracefully lifted off and our pilot navigated the balloon through some rather tight terrain and cliffs, lowered us to just a few meters off the ground and within a few minutes, had elevated us to over 700 meters. After spending some time in the clouds, it was quickly apparent that the group preferred the lower elevations and we pushed downward.  We were able to see entire valleys and villages and really get a feel for the area that is hard to comprehend by foot. As we neared the completion of the flight, the balloon hovered over a couple of men and they conversed with the pilot in Turkish. We assumed the conversation related to some important landing instructions or business related issues. We asked the only passenger on the ride who spoke Turkish to translate, “are you having soup today?” was apparently the topic of conversation. It was cold out and the Turkish lentil soup is delicious, so who can blame them.

After spending some time in an underground city where the Byzantine Christians hid out while the Muslim Ottomans scoured the land above, we departed Goreme and took another overnight bus south to Antalya, the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. This bus ride involved a near immediate puke party with a young boy seated behind Adena, a bus with some minor mechanical problems and apparently some bad smells as Andy was told (through the use of holding one’s nose and pointing to his feet by some locals) that his feet smelled so bad that he was urged to put on his shoes. This coming from the guy who had a full family of four seated in two seats, but apparently the “smelly” feet was his biggest problem. I still think it was the puke he smelled but I was in no position to argue.  Needless to say we made it after about 10 hours on this bus!

Antalya is a sprawling metropolis, but we stayed in the charming old city of Kaleici. Walking by the stone and stucco houses with red tiled roofs and down the cobblestone streets you might think you were in Italy. It’s a really a pleasant area, right on the water with a small harbor with cute boutique pensions and upscale restaurants on every corner.  After the overnight bus ordeal, we anxiously arrived at our hotel and were blown away by the view from the rooftop terrace. It was a stunning mountain-sea landscape that we just didn’t think existed in Turkey. We can see why this place is so popular with the Euro tourism crowd, but are lucky to be here in shoulder season.  This was also our first time on a pebble beach, surprisingly the pebbles were very comfortable to lie in, you just have to build a small nest for yourself, while another plus is not having tiny grains of sand all over you at the end of a beach day.

Originally our plan was to spend one month in Israel and then travel to Turkey for 10 days or so.  Due to the high cost of flights from India to Israel we decided to spend the month in Turkey instead.  We have been pleasantly surprised by Turkey and are so happy we decided to spend more time here.  The food is delicious, the people are very friendly once you get over the language  barrier and the views from the coasts to the mountains are incredible.

Travel tip:  If we could do it all over again, we probably would’ve based ourselves in Antalya for a longer period and done day trips. We had no idea how many great historical sites were within a several hour car ride. We made a trip to Termessos, isolated ruins located high in the mountains. We probably would’ve liked it better if we didn’t get caught in a thunder and hail storm as soon as we hiked to the top, but it was still interesting enough. We’ve promised ourselves that next time we will make it to Aspendos, Perge and Side.

Next up, Cirali and Olympos (and more kebab of course!)